Mongers take bird's eye view: this market plan smells fishy

Fishin' for chips ... photographer Michael Bowers used a wireless remote trigger to capture this moment at the Fish Markets, allowing him to trip the shutter while away from the camera.

There's change in the wind at the Sydney Fish Market in the face of a proposed $100million redevelopment - and it's not just the seagulls who feel under threat.

The owners of the market are in talks with the State Government over the viability of the proposal amid fears it could send the market broke for the second time.

A masterplan for the 4.7-hectare site on Blackwattle Bay is due to be revealed within weeks. It includes a proposal to remove the stench of old fish - a smell blamed on the seagulls, who raid fishmongers' offal bins and leave carcasses to rot. Under the plan, the market would be put almost completely under cover.

But the board of the Sydney Fish Market is refusing to let the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, which manages the land, unveil the plan until it is satisfied that the development can pay for itself.

"It's $100million-plus and it takes a fair bit to generate the return on that," said the managing director of the market, Grahame Turk.");document.write("

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"If we can't prove that, we won't be doing it."

A spokesman for the foreshore authority said a draft project would go to the boards of the authority and the market this month for review and approval.

On the table is an ambitious development that would triple the market's size within the existing site. It could take up to five years.

It proposes a complete transformation of the old market, which was last expanded in 1989 under government ownership - a development which left it insolvent. The market was privatised in 1994.

The new market would be dominated by a 30-metre-wide pedestrian corridor, providing a spectacular "view corridor" to the water's edge.

A grassed square would complement a boardwalk along the waterfront.

Two new buildings would house the auction room, restaurants, offices and retailers. A 35-metre office tower with parking would double capacity to 642 car spaces.